Dr. Martin Feldstein

Harvard Professor and Economic Advisor to Presidents

Bio

Martin Feldstein is the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served as president and CEO of the NBER from 1977-82 and 1984-2008. He continues as a research associate of the NBER. The NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization that has specialized for more than 80 years in producing nonpartisan studies of the American economy.

From 1982 through 1984, Feldstein was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and President Reagan's chief economic adviser. He served as president of the American Economic Association in 2004. In 2006, President Bush appointed him to be a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. In 2009, President Obama appointed him to be a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Feldstein is a member of the American Philosophical Society, a corresponding fellow of the British Academy, a fellow of the Econometric Society and a fellow of the National Association of Business Economics. He is a trustee of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Group of 30, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council of Academic Advisors of the American Enterprise Institute.

Feldstein has received honorary doctorates from several universities and is an honorary fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. In 1977, he received the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association, a prize awarded every two years to the economist under the age of 40 who is judged to have made the greatest contribution to economic science. He is the author of more than 300 research articles in economics.

Feldstein has been a director of several public corporations. He is also an economic adviser to several businesses and government organizations in the United States and abroad. He is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Feldstein is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University. He was born in New York City in 1939. His wife, Kathleen, is also an economist. The Feldsteins have two married daughters.

Speech Topics

The Root of the Economic Woes and the Need to Address the Fundamental Cause

Savvy economists saw it coming. The bubble in the housing prices, high loan to value ratio for millions of homeowners and the manner in which mortgages were securitized was not a formula for long-term economic success. The result was household wealth degradation and destruction of capital financial institutions that hold mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. While the country hopes that recent financial rescue plans will bring back the confidence needed to revive the financial system, has the root of the problem been addressed and where do we go from here? In this revealing presentation customized for your organization from one of the worlds leading economists, Martin Feldstein, the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, shares:

-Insights into the current, and complex, economic dynamics

-What results we can expect from recent congressional and federal government initiatives

-What initiatives will get the economy back on track

The Great Tax Debate: Why the Tax Policies of the Next President and Congress are No Party

Since the Sons of Liberty threw casks of tea into the Boston Harbor, taxation has been a hot topic for Americans. President Obama has promised to pursue a very specific approach regarding tax policies based on advice from a litany of renowned experts with substantial economic experience. So, what will the presidents plan mean for you, your organization and the country? Martin Feldstein, who has been called one of the ten best economists in the world and stands as an economic research pioneer. In this compelling presentation, he reviews:

-What initiatives are likely to produce jobs, increase wages and investment in business